I've been tossing around the idea of a book called "Imagine Nation" for a while. Imagine Nation is an amazing place to live because when you imagine something good/cool/wonderful/revolutionary -- poof -- it comes to be! (Fortunately for all residents, if someone accidentally (or maliciously) imagines something NOT good, it simply won't happen.)

I'm going to tell you a few of the ideas I have for the book/story in a moment, and then in the comment section to your left, I invite you all to share your ideas big and small! Then I will craft this into an actual children's book! And every single one of us will be the authors! (and credited as such).

I'm not sure yet if this would be something I would take to one of my editors/publishers, or if we should self-publish this on Lulu.com. Also not sure about illustrating: one of the illustrators I currently work with? One of you, someone who's looking to break into the business? The other undecided detail is proceeds: donate to charity? Set up a Mission Amy K.R. fund that we use for subsequent projects and missions? Start a scholarship fund? I'm open to your thoughts on these topics but I think I'm getting ahead of myself. (Can you tell I'm excited?)

“I simply misremembered it wrong,” Kirk said about a series of campaign overstatements regarding his military service and being shot at in Iraq. Kirk is the GOP nominee for President Obama’s old senate seat.

But, now, a zesty cold michelada in hand at Los Girasoles Restaurant in Brighton Park, Reichard is taking a more focused look at Kirk’s utterance.

“It’s a double negative,” says Reichard, an associate professor of English and Developmental English at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. “Except that ‘misremembered’ isn’t even a word. And, for an apology, it’s pretty blameless. He makes it sound like the equivalent of tripping on a bump on a sidewalk.”

The late Andy Warhol's famed Silver Clouds is billowing around the interior of IIT's Crown Hall. It's worth checking out.

One thousand helium-filled mylar balloons--seemingly with minds of their own--rise and float around the interior of the Mies van der Rohe-designed glass pavilion/masterpiece/home to the IIT's College of Architecture. Warhol and engineer Billy Klƒ¼ver created Silver Clouds, which debuted at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York in 1966, and it became an instant icon of modern art. The folks at the Mies van der Rohe Society at IIT say the Crown Hall showing of Clouds is the biggest installation of the work yet, with scores of balloons joyously animating the modernist building's huge interior.

Everyone loves a little adventure, especially when it comes to dining. There's the intrigue, the unknown, the illicit nature of dining under the radar of the Chicago Department of Health. It's probably why there's been a proliferation of "underground dinners" lately. With names like Sunday Dinner Club, X-Marx, Culinary Speakeasy and the latest -- One Sister -- these businesses are run by talented 20 or 30-somethings who've usually worked in established, professional kitchens.

Known to his mom as Che Smith and raised in the South Side neighborhood of Jeffrey Manor, Chicago rapper Rhymefest first grabbed the national spotlight in 2004 as co-author of Kanye West's mega-hit "Jesus Walks," a feat for which he claimed a third of the 2005 Grammy for Best Rap Song, along with West and hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari. Marked as a hot up-and-comer, though he was already nearing age 30, Rhymefest signed to Clive Davis's J Records, a label more in tune with the "American Idol" crowd than cutting-edge hip-hop, and the company hardly did justice to his fine 2006 debut, "Blue Collar," my choice for one of that year's best albums.

As much as I miss John Callaway -- and I do miss him terribly -- I'm glad he doesn't have to witness what's happening to WTTW-Channel 11, the public television station he served so well for so long before his passing a year ago this month.

No one (especially me) likes to dine with an overly picky eater. Anything unpronounceable or unfamiliar is off-limits, and they relegate non-recognizable items to the outermost limits of their plates. But even the most adventurous eaters have a soft spot for all-American, reminds-you-of-summers-with-Grandma comfort food. Over the next week, there are several events offering the chance to explore new cuisines, or maybe just grab a delicious burger and a beer.